SpaceX launches yet another 53 Starlink satellites in sixth launch of the month

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SpaceX launches yet another 53 Starlink satellites in sixth launch of the month
Adam Schrader - 1h ago
UPI News


July 24 (UPI) -- SpaceX on Sunday sent yet another 53 Starlink satellites into orbit with its 33rd launch of the year, just days after the company broke its annual record set in 2021.



A vapor trail forms as SpaceX launches 53 Starlink Satellites from Complex 39 at 9:38 a.m. from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sunday. This launch represents the 33rd for SpaceX this year, jumping ahead of the total of 31 in 2021. Photo by Joe Marino/UPI


The satellites were sent into low-Earth orbit from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 9:38 a.m., the company said in a statement.

The Falcon 9 rocket's first stage booster landed on the A Shortfall of Gravitas drone ship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean just nine minutes later, the company said.

"Deployment of 53 Starlink satellites confirmed -- completing SpaceX's sixth mission this month!" SpaceX tweeted after the mission.

The Falcon 9 rocket that supported this mission previously launched two other Starlink missions as well as GPS III Space Vehicle 04, GPS III Space Vehicle 05, Inspiration4, Ax-1 and Nilesat 301.

The company launched 46 Starlink satellites to orbit from a Falcon 9 rocket around 10:39 a.m. on Friday from the Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

The company had initially targeted Thursday for that launch but the countdown was aborted just seconds ahead of the launch because of fog.

SpaceX has launched more than 2,800 satellites into orbit since it launched its first 60 satellites on May 24, 2019, according to an online tracker of the company's launches, as the company seeks to quickly build out its constellation.

U.S. Space Force Lt. Col. Brian Eno, commander of the 1st Range Operation Squad, part of Space Launch 45, told UPI earlier this year it anticipates 66 launches in 2022 from Florida alone.


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